Enright Family Collection (120 page)

“Are you all right?” The princess was rushing toward him.

“Oh. Fine. Sure.” He gritted his teeth and smiled up into eyes green as spring grass and shiny as new dimes. “It’s just a little twist.”

“Are you positive?” she was asking, her voice like soft bells.

“Yes.” He felt fortunate to have gotten that one word out.

She was beautiful enough to take a man’s breath away, and for a long moment, it seemed to Matt, she had taken his.

“Maybe some ice ...” she was gesturing toward the farmhouse and saying something that his brain—struggling as it was with the effects of both pain and something else that was registering at a point equidistant between infatuation and lust—wasn’t quite comprehending.

“You live here?” he asked, understanding seeping through.

“As of yesterday.” She nodded.

Their tenant? The princess was their tenant? Yes!

She took his arm gently and asked, “Would it help if you leaned on me? I can help you to the back steps.”

He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t really hurt
that
badly, but her arm was already around his waist, surprising him with its strength for one so slender.

Matt knew he should remind her of the dangers of permitting a stranger to get so close, but she smelled of sunlight and new grass and her red-and-white flannel shirt was soft against his bare arms and he couldn’t get the words out. Of course, actually leaning on her was out of the question, she being barely five three or so and he being close to six feet, but he felt compelled to let her think she was helping. After all, she looked so anxious, so sincere.

“If you think you can get into the house, we can prop your foot up and maybe put some ice in a towel,” she offered.

“You know, you really should not do that.” He couldn’t help himself. Women who looked like that—who smelled like that—really shouldn’t be so naive.

“Do what?”

“Offer to take a strange man into your home.” He frowned. What if he’d been up to no good? “It’s dangerous. Didn’t your mother ever warn you about strangers?”

“Every chance she gets.” The princess laughed and held the door open for him. “But you’re not a stranger.”

“I wouldn’t think that carrying your bags for you at the inn would make me less of a stranger.” He followed her into the kitchen, his frown deepening.

“You’re Laura’s brother, Matt.” She smiled sweetly and pulled a chair away from the kitchen table, motioning for him to sit.

He did, earning himself a fine view of the back of her jeans as she leaned over to get a dishtowel from a nearby drawer.

“That’s right.” He nodded, his head filling with the buzz that had been set off inside his head when she had smiled at him.

It was, the scientist in him observed, the same kind of inner ear noise you got when you stayed underwater for too long. Something told him that no amount of head-shaking would shake off this buzz.

He continued to admire her as she took a white box filled with ice from the freezer and set it on the counter next to the dishtowel, which she opened and layered with ice.

She handed him the towel with one hand and
swung another chair around to face him with the other, saying, “You can prop your leg up on this chair and leave the ice on your ankle for a few minutes. It’ll help to keep it from swelling.”

“Thanks.” As if he hadn’t suffered a million injuries over the years, from the sandbox to the football field.

“I made iced tea this morning. It’s herbal. Would you like a some?”

“Yes, that’d be great. Thank you.” He watched her reach into a near cupboard to take down two amber colored glasses. Without thinking he said, “My aunt always used those glasses for iced tea in the summer. There was a pitcher that matched, and she always made iced tea in the pitcher and served it in the glasses.”

The princess smiled as she opened the refrigerator door. “You would be referring to this pitcher?” she said as she lifted it from the top shelf and placed it on the counter.

“Yes.” He nodded, pleased in some unexplainable way to see her using things that he himself had used.

“I found it in the closet.” She pointed to the tall built-in closets at one end of the room. “I hope you don’t mind. Laura said I could use what was here.”

“No, I don’t mind at all.”

She poured the tea into the first glass, which she handed to him, saying, “I hope you like this. It’s cranberry with some fresh lemon in it.”

He sipped at it. “It’s great.” It could have been hemlock for all he knew at that moment, held as he was in the spell of those moss green eyes.

“Oh, good, I’m glad you like it.” She poured her own glass, then leaned back against the counter.

“So, Laura told you about me, did she?” As he watched the princess move toward the table, he blessed his sister with ever fiber of his body. He owed Laura big time for this.

“Yes, she did.”

“What did she tell you?”

“Well, she told me about Artie—actually, I was speaking with her on my cell phone when I drove up and Artie attacked my car.” She pointed to the Jeep that was parked near the side of the house.

“Artie attacked your car?”

“Laura said he was just being territorial, this being his place and all. He was jumping up at the driver’s side window and snarling.”

“I’m so sorry. Did he scratch your door?”

“No, I don’t think so.” She shook her head and her hair shimmered like gentle waves with the movement. “He was really bouncing more against the glass than he was the side of the car. Scared me half to death at first, though.”

“I guess he can be pretty fearsome sometimes. I’m sorry if he frightened you, but he’s pretty protective.”

“He makes a very impressive watch-beast.”

“So what else did Laura tell you about her little brother?” Matt knew he was flirting. He also knew he couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed it this much.

A look of wariness crossed the delicate features of her face.

“Well, she said that you probably wouldn’t be too happy about finding me here....”

“Oh, I know I was reluctant to rent out the farm. I have to admit that I resisted the idea at first. But I’ve come around to the idea. And Laura’s right, we’ve left the place vacant for longer than we should have. I guess we’re lucky that there’s been no real damage done to the place.” He paused, then asked, “Laura did tell you about the barn being broken into last week?”

“Yes. Actually, I was at the inn when Chief Monroe called to tell her about the kids sneaking into the barn to have a little party.”

“Well, then, you know that it was probably time for us to do this. Nothing personal, but I don’t think either of us felt comfortable handing over the keys to our mother’s family home to a complete stranger, but it had to be done.”

“I’d feel the same way, I’m sure—but then again, I’m hardly a stranger, either.”

He looked at her blankly, and in that moment, she understood.

“Laura didn’t tell you who your tenant is, did she?” she said slowly.

He shook his head. “No. Just that she found someone who could move in right away.”

She stretched her hand out to him and he took it, cradling her small palm in his and liking the feeling.

“I’m Georgia Enright.”

For a very long moment, he was certain he had misunderstood. Then with the resignation of one who had known all along that it had been too good to be true, he repeated flatly, “Georgia Enright.”

“That’s right,” she nodded.

“Well then,” he said from between clenched teeth
as he dropped her hand unceremoniously, “I guess that explains why Laura neglected to tell me the name of the tenant, doesn’t it?”

“Why does it make a difference who I am?” she asked.

He ignored her, choosing to dump the remains of his tea into the sink without bothering to answer.

“Well, I wouldn’t get too comfortable here if I were you, Miss Enright,” he said without looking at her.

“And why is that?” she asked, her cheeks beginning to flush as her oh-so-carefully controlled temper began to rise.

“Because you won’t be staying.” For a brief second he considered rinsing out the sink where the tea had splashed against the porcelain, then decided against it.

“Excuse me?” Her hands rolled into fists, her nails biting against her palms.

“I said, you are not staying here. This is as much my house as it is Laura’s, and I don’t want you here. We’ll find another tenant.”

“May I remind you that Laura and I have an agreement?” she asked with much more calm than she was feeling.

“Un-agree.” He brushed her aside as he limped through the back door, across the back porch, and down the steps.

Georgia’s fists found their way to her hips as she marched behind him. “I moved out here in good faith—”

He turned to her and said, “I’d like you to be gone by Wednesday.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She planted both feet firmly
on the ground and stared him down. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“By Wednesday, Miss Enright.” Matt whistled for Artie, who had been sleeping in the grass near the garden fence. “Come on, boy.”

The dog headed for Georgia and, in spite of her anger, she bent down to give the dog a good-bye rub under the chin.

“Artie, come!” Matt yelled without turning around as he headed toward his pickup. When he reached the cab, he opened the door and waited for Artie to jump in before climbing in himself and closing the door. He started the engine and turned the truck around in a narrow arc at a higher rate of speed than he should have, causing stones to fly and the tires to grind out cranky groans as he sped toward the end of the drive.

“Wednesday!” he shouted curtly as he passed by in a cloud of dust.

Georgia fought the urge to make an obscene gesture in his direction.

“Wednesday,” Matt struggled not to yell into the phone. “Wednesday, Laura.”

“Matt—” Laura sighed heavily. She’d been expecting this. “Matt, calm down and let’s discuss this.”

“Laura, there’s nothing to talk about. I don’t want anyone named Enright living in our house and sleeping in our beds. Period. Get rid of her.”

“No, Matt.” Laura said calmly. “No, I won’t. Georgia and I have an agreement—”

“Laura, I don’t want her there. Tell her she has to leave.”

“No. We needed a tenant, one we could trust ...”

“I don’t trust her.”

“You don’t know her, so your opinion doesn’t count.”

“Well, I don’t see where you could know her very well, either. How long have you known her, a couple of months?” he growled, then added, “You had no business leasing our farm without my consent.”

“I don’t need your consent, Matthew. That farm belongs to Mother, and I have sole power of attorney over all of her affairs. My advice to you is to steer clear of Pumpkin Hill for however long Georgia stays, or get used to the idea of her being there, because she’s not leaving.”

Ignoring her, he said, “I want you to call her and—”

“Apologize for you being a horse’s ass?” Laura shot. “I already have.”

“You what?”

“I said, I already apologized to her for your behavior. Thankfully, she is more gracious than you are.”

“I don’t need anyone to make apologies for me. I’m perfectly capable of making my own when—”

“Then I suggest you do exactly that.”

“—when I feel it’s warranted. Which in this case, it is not.”

“Matthew, you are acting like an obnoxious child. If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were jealous.”

“Jealous? Of what?”

“That I have found my birth family.”

“Laura, let’s get one thing straight. I know where I came from, okay? I don’t want to go back—hell, I don’t even want to look back there.”

“Matt, you can’t compare the two situations....”

“No, you can’t. And while I’m sure that the woman who gave birth to you is nothing like the woman who gave birth to me, the fact remains that you don’t really know her, Laura.”

“If you had your way, I never would.”

“I just think you’re moving way too fast where these people are concerned.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that out of the blue, this woman turns up. Tells you she’s your birth mother. Trots out the half siblings. Everybody’s happy-happy.”

“So what’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong is that they can leave, as quickly as they came.”

“That is such an awful thing to say. If you knew them, Matt, you’d never say that.”

“I don’t have to know them to think that you’re way too trusting. Sometimes people have to earn trust, Laura. I don’t think that a woman who abandoned you thirty-five years ago is worthy of your trust just because she shows up one day and pays off your mortgage.”

“That was a cheap shot. Delia did that because—”

“I don’t need to know why she did it. It’s between you and her. The point is that she—and the rest of her family—are essentially strangers to you. I’d hate to see you have your heart broken because you gave it blindly like you ...”

“Go ahead, Matt. Finish it.”

“Laura ...”

“This is nothing like that, Matt. How can you even compare my mother, my family, to
him?
How could
you compare
anyone
to him? How dare you—” Laura’s voice rose sharply.

“I dare because I love you, Laurie. The last time you needed someone to look out for you, I let you down. This time—”

“Is that what this is about, Matt? Your guilt? You think that somehow you could have stopped me from marrying Gary? Or that somehow you could have figured out what he was doing?” Laura sighed deeply. “Matt, trust me when I tell you that there was nothing you could have done. I never saw that side of him. I swear it. I never knew, up until the day he was arrested. How could you, in college a hundred miles away, have known what he was really like, when I lived with him, day in and day out, and I never knew?”

“Maybe if someone had warned you to take things slowly, things would have turned out differently.”

“I doubt it, Matt. It’s just my nature to jump in with both feet. I can’t help it. I appreciate your concern. I love you for it. But I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to worry. The Enrights will be around for a long, long time, so you’re just going to have to get used to the idea. Just like you’re going to have to get used to the fact that Georgia is living at Pumpkin Hill.”